The furnishing of dormitory style rooms, in the past, has been very expensive when one desired durable furniture, attractive furniture and maintainable furniture.
For example, in the past, furniture used in the dormitory style rooms was of particle board construction and plastic laminate with some items such as chairs, tables and ladders being made of real wood. In the loft system, this furniture was very heavy and weighed over 1200 pounds per unit and thus was difficult to move for any reason. The plastic laminate is prone to separating and breaking and thus the system becomes a maintenance nightmare. The wooden furniture is further prone to joint failure and general marring of the surface. Because of these problems, a full time staff is required to repair and replace this style of furniture and if there are many rooms, in the hundreds, this becomes a very large and expansive task.
Thus, there exists a need for a means of furnishing standardized rooms in a flexible manner preventing many of the problems associated with less adaptable furniture.